Question 11 and 12

11. These are the five images from our animatic that stand out from the rest of the others, as they seem to leave the most questions asked about what is happening. The first picture is of the man sat in the corner looking scared, this leaves the audience the question of why is he cowering in the corner? And what is he scared of? The second picture of the man looking in the mirror and seeing the reflection of his best friend who died was our best shot as it makes you look again to see him looking back. The picture of the man holding his friend in his arms is an effective one as it shows that he has died in his arms and would have a bigger impact on him after seeing him die right in front of him. The next picture of the man looking shocked leaves us with the question of why is he looking shocked? Has he seen something he doesn’t want to see again? The final photo of the man and women tied up would seem to leave the audience thing why are they tied up? Who has tied them up? 12. My role during this process was suggesting and finding suitable locations for us to take our photos in. I had to find locations which looked how we needed to be without having to change them much. We used locations such as outside in the woods and then moving indoors to a classroom. I also played a part in the writing of the plot, giving ideas and giving constructive criticism to the others in the group about their ideas.

Question 11 - 5 key images

A Critical Analysis of the Animatic Process of your group’s Film Trailer(Part 1)

1. An animatic is a series of still images edited together and displayed in sequence with a rough dialogue and rough sound track added to the sequence of still image to test whether the sound and images are working effectively together. The animatic helps you to see what shots would and wouldn’t work. 2. First of all we started off with the storyboard, this is where you hand draw each individual shot and give a short explanation into what is happening in the shot. Next we had to choose a suitable area for us to take the photos and also when we would take the photos. We had to sort out some props for some of the shots which was easy enough as we already had them and didn’t need to buy any. After deciding this crucial information we then went and took the photos. We came across various difficulties whilst taking the photos such as bad weather stopped us from taking the shots. After taking the shots we then went into the editing room and edited the photos to the correct speed and added our soundtrack over the top. 3. We changed the order of the shots we took for our story to make sense to the audience. If we didn’t make a storyboard then we would not have been able to create our animatic. Also it is good to have a structure down to help us understand our ideas. 4. All together we had a total of five different shoots, using a total of four different locations to take our photos. The prop that we used in the animactic was a rope, the iconic image in the film. We chose the actors from visual appearance and reliability. Whilst we were taking our photos we realized that different shot angles worked better than the ones we had decided we would do originally. A shot we couldn’t take was the shot of a train; we couldn’t do this due to timing and having accessibility to taking photos on the train. We made a huge change as we completely changed our whole plot due to the fact that the old plot was more action rather than physiological. We now have a better new plot being developed which will be more physiological. We looked at various film trailers to help us. Shutter Island was an important film trailer we watched as it gave us some ideas for our own trailer. We used some of the ideas and then put our own twist on it. 5. We constructed our animatic during the editing process by firstly uploading the photos to the computer and then we had to put them into the correct order. Next we changed the times of how long each photo displayed for and then lastly added the intertitles and transitions. 6. We chose the length of each shot by using the times we had put on our storyboard. We had to change some of the shots down from five second down to two seconds. We used transitions that we thought suited our plot. 7. We used aerial black as our font for our intertitles and title of the film. The reason why we used this front and the colour black is because although it seems very basic it was a good way of showing the seriousness of our trailer. 8. We used the use of a heartbeat when we showed the death of the solider; I think this was a good sound to use as it can make the audience feel empathy towards the friend who has just seen his best friend die. We also used a fast beat soundtrack when the action picked up speed to make it more dramatic and more interesting to watch. 9. Our target audience is both males and women ageing from 20-34. Our animatic appeals to our target audience because it contains scenes with both males and females in. It also appeals to the audience as it is what you would want to see in any action film.

Anamactic update

Through the process of producing our animatic, the group found that our ideas and work so far had not captured or wasn't reflecting our chosen film genre. We feel the main reason for this was our lack of research. For this reason, we will develop our research further and come up with a new idea for our film plot.

Trailer Plot

The trailer begins with the production companies name. There is a diegetic sound of a train and someone listening to music. The next shot then shows a man on the train listening to music through earphones, the music is just loud enough to hear. A man then walks past with a newspaper relating to the war and a close up shot shows the story before the train goes through the tunnel and the scene fades out. There's then a flashback of a squad of soldiers walking through a forest where they are ambushed. There is a gunfire which marks the fade out of the scene followed by an inter title with the background of the woods, reading 'the death of a friend'This then fades again and the main character (Mark) holds him in his arms as he dies . It fades back to the train and shows a close up of him starring into space looking sad. The inter titles 'pushed over the edge' show in between cuts and it changes to a cut where his girlfriend tells him she's cheated on him. This then cuts to the inter titles "it's time for a new war", then a scene shows a close up of him packing his knife and other equipment into a sports bag/rucksack. Then it shows Lisa on the phone and we hear the diegetic dialogue, "Thomas, he knows". Then it cuts to Thomas' house and a close up on his fridge with a note saying "That's the problem with best friends, they know all your secrets, I'm coming for you." After reading this Thomas runs out of the house and as he runs past a blind corner he's struck down and tackled/punched. Then it cuts to a scene were we see him being held under the water. The next cut shows the inter title "This time he's not the only one fighting to survive." There is then an establishing shot of woods at night. The next scene shows Thomas hitting mark and running away through the woods. As he gets around the corner Mark is stood there with a bloody nose staring menacingly at Thomas. He charges at him knocking his phone out his hand which he's using as a light. While he tries to get signal, as the phone hits the floor, the light goes out and everything goes black. The words "he will have retribution" appear at the end with the word "retribution". Posted by Ruth's Blog! at 14:20 No comments: Email ThisBlogThis!Share to TwitterShare to Facebook Final Film Plot The film begins in a greyish colour at a war zone with troops advancing under enemy fire. The commander gives the order to advance through a smoky forest and the main character's friend, Matthew, gets hit by grenade. As they head through, he runs to him but it's too late and he dies in front of him. The gunfire fades out and so does the scene. The next scene is in normal colour and present day in front of the commander. The main character, Mark looks shaken up and the commander tells him he's in no state to continue his service and to go home and spend time with his girlfriend while he gets over losing his friend. Since after his friends death, Mark had been experiencing flashbacks of him and he imagines he's having conversations with him regularly. This false representation of Matthew tells Mark his girlfriend, Lisa, is cheating on him. He tries to forget about it but he himself has been noticing she has been acting different since he's returned from war. He finally confronts Lisa and she admits to cheating on him with one of his best friends, Thomas while he has been away at the army. It's at this point he storms out the room and heads upstairs to pack his bag. He begins by just packing his clothes but on later inspection notices other stuff such as rope and knives. This is when Mark says out loud, “ What, I didn't pack these!” and Matthew speaks to him and says, “I know, I did”. He tries to remove them but eventually, after they keep reappearing he leaves them, as it is no use. He leaves the house and pushes his girlfriend out of the way as she tries to say she's sorry. He yells “It's over” before slamming the door. The next scene shows her on the phone to Thomas warning him and telling him to watch out because Mark knows and he's not himself. Thomas hears something while on the phone and turns round to his fridge/mirror and finds a note saying “that's the problem with best friends, they know all of your fears. Scared of the dark?”. After he reads this the lights go out and he hears running. The door shuts before power returns. Scared and on the phone to Lisa the whole time, Thomas tells her what he has witnessed and only Mark knows about his embarrassing phobia of the dark. Lisa rings Mark and confronts him about it, this where he tells her he's been sleeping while this has been going on and hasn't been anywhere near Thomas before hanging up. He goes back to sleep and has a weird dream with him and Matthew in it. In the dream, Mark and Matthew plant a letter in Thomas' house before turning off the light and rushing out through the front door. Matthew talks to Mark and Mark tells Matthew all about how he's struggling to cope. He tells Mark, “Thomas will pay, I'll see to that”. Mark then wakes up and finds the words “Die. Suffer. Pay” repeatedly carved around where he was sleeping and looks at his hands to find them bloody/muddy ( this depends on location as to whether he sleeps in a house or sleeps rough in the wilderness). Stuff like this continues to happen until Thomas becomes enveloped in fear. When a final note says, “I'm coming for you soon”, seeing this he runs from his house only to be ambushed in an alleyway and suffocated with a bag until he passes out. He regains consciousness and is tied up in his own bathroom where Mark, with a slightly different darker voice says, “Scared of drowning too, wasn't it?”. He looks over to see a bath full of water and Mark laughing. He looks terrified at this point and begs him to stop, but Mark just laughs harder and says, “Let's see how long you can hold your breath for?”, before dragging him over and pushing his head under water. At this point, Lisa runs in and pulls him off. He turns to her, and he says, “Oh god Mark, what's happened to you?” before backing away. He throws her to the floor and she hits her head, losing consciousness. He then moves back to Thomas, who is coughing and spluttering, and hits him in the side of the head knocking him out. The next scene shows Thomas looking out of the car boot as it is opened, and Mark drags him out. He sees a forest and Lisa tied, and on her knees blindfolded. He is forced on his knees next to her. Matthew says, “Since you had no problem choosing between me and her, let's see how easy it is for you to choose between you and her. One of you dies”. Thomas manages to break free and hits Matthew who falls to the floor. He then frees Lisa and they run through the forest away from Mark. He catches them up and pins Matthew to the floor, hitting him over and over again. Meanwhile, Lisa is screaming “Stop it! This isn't you!”. He has memories of the four of them (Him, Lisa, Thomas and Matthew ) This somehow seems to wake Mark and he releases Matthew. As he does this, Matthew screams at him, “Finish this, finish it you coward! If you don't I'll get them when you're sleeping , you can't stay awake forever!”. He replies with, “I know” and we see him walk towards an edge by the river. We see Lisa watch him, then look to Mark to check he's okay. We hear a splash , and when the camera pans Mark is gone. The film ends with the camera cutting to the side of the river where Mark has been washed up. It ends on a close up of his face and his eyes fling open, where he gasps before it ends.

Poster analysed

This is the poster for the film I have analysed. At the top of the poster we see a tag line saying " EXTRAORDINARY.... HARD TO SHAKE". This gives us the impression that the person reading the poster should go and see the film. Also it is in capital letters so it stands right out as one of the first things you will read on the poster. The title of the film is in the middle of the poster. This goes against stereotype as usually the name of the film is usually either at the top of the poster or at the bottom. I like the idea of the film title in the middle as again one of the things that the audience will look at. The image that they have used in the poster is very clever. The top of the image we see a woman and a man and then underneath is a picture of a solider. This is a very clever way of showing two different sides to the man. The top side of him being with his girlfriend/wife in normal life and the bottom picture of him in the army carrying a gun. It also gives us a insight into this mans life, but also leaves us with questions such as why does it look like he has been sent home from the army? The billing blocks are at the bottom of the poster this is usual for a poster. I think it is good to have them at the bottom of the poster as it doesn't take anything away from the main image and the film title. Due to the photo of the man in the army clothing we can see that it is a sort of war genre. This is called iconography.

Planning for animatic

• ke>Shot 4 takes place in the school. It’s a medium shot of a man sat down • Shot 5 also takes place in the school – a close up of a newspaper on the table. • Shot 7, 8 and 10 take place in the school woods. • Shot 7 is a long shot of a group of soldiers marching into the woods (taken from the side). • Shot 8 is medium shot of two soldiers taking cover • Shot 10 shows a medium shot of Dom holding Alex passionately in his arms. • Shot 13 is a close up of Dom looking very sad. • Shot 15 is an over the shoulder shot of Dom approaching Ruth. • Shot 16 is a close up of Ruth expecting something bad. • Shot 17 is a medium side shot showing uncomfortable body language. • Shot 18 is a medium shot of Ruth looking to the side of the camera. • Shot 19 is a medium shot of Dom looking speechless. • Shot 20 is a long shot of Dom opening a door and walking through it. • Shot 21 is a medium close up of the drawer, where Dom is grabbing his clothes. • Shot 22 is a medium shot of Dom standing sideways looking puzzled. • Shot 23 is a close up of a knife and rope • Shot 25 is another long shot of Dom walking through a door • Shot 26 is a medium shot of Ruth on the phone. • Shot 29 is a close up of a phone of the floor. • Shot 50 is a medium shot of Martelle tied up from behind. • Shot 52 is a long shot of Martelle stood the corner of the room. • Shot 55 is a medium two shot of Ruth and Martelle tied up. • Shot 57 is a long shot where we see Dom and Alex talking. • Shot 58 is a close up of Dom gasping • Shot 61 is a medium shot of Ruth on the phone. • Shot 62 is another medium shot of Dom on the phone looking confused. • Shot 63 is a close up of a note on the fridge • Shot 65 is a long establishing shot of the woods. • Shot 66 is a long side shot of Martelle and Ruth running through the forest • Shot 67 is a medium shot of Martelle and Ruth running • Shot 69 is a low angle shot of someone getting out the boot of a car • Shot 70 is an over the shoulder shot where we see Dom push Ruth to the floor. • Shot 71 is a side shot of Martelle grabbing Dom. • Shot 72 is a point of view shot of Martelle punching Dom • Shot 73 is a point of view shot of Martelle behind Ruth untieng her. • Shot 74 is a long shot of the back of Dom as he pushes himself up from the ground. • Shot 75 is a long shot from behind of Martelle and Ruth running into the forest • Shot 77 is a point of view shot of Dom’s hands as he holds the sink • Shot 78 is a long side shot of Dom staring into a mirror • Shot 79 is an over the shoulder close-up of Alex staring into a mirror

Hell and Back Again Presentation

My group discussing their plots

Hell and Back Again Research

The genre of the film Hell and Back Again is war and documentary.  The audience can identify the genre due to the mise-en-scene of army tanks, guns, soldiers and also the location of the film.  We can tell it’s a documentary due to the way the story is told.  The trailer is targeted at mainly males between the ages of 25-34 as the actor in the film is between this age so it represents the typical man. The film trailer last a whole of two minutes a two seconds.  There are around 36-40 shots used in this film trailer with a mixture of close up’s and medium two shots.  All shots were taking on a Canon DSLR camera.  Shots are less edited because of this as they want it to be as realistic as possible.  Diegetic sound is used in the trailer with different instruments first of all we hear trumpets followed by drums and violins are also used.  There is a lot of speech used an example is “We are experts in the application of violence, when you move, move with a sense of purpose and aggression and intent on finishing the enemy” This leaves the audience with questions like who is the enemy?

The non-diegetic sounds that are used are the use of gun shots, explosions, rocket launchers and aeroplanes and a lot of booms.  The use of gun shots and explosions makes it more entertaining for the audience and makes it dramatic.  The first character we see is giving out a speech so this gives the impression that he is clearly ranked high up in the army.  The next important character we see is a man with his head in his hands looking very depressed.  He is represented as a man who has come home injured from the army and can’t cope with life.  We then also see a woman dressing the man which looks like a girlfriend/wife to him.  The trailer creates a sense of narrative by not telling us what actually happens in the film but giving us just enough information to make the audience want to go see it.  This is good as they didn’t want to give too much away.  The trailer reveals about the plot of the film that a man gets injured in the army and has to be sent home and cant get back into civilian life again.  He also needs his girlfriend/wife to look after him.   We also learn that this man is very depressed.  The code of enigma is how did he get injured? Why he tries to kill himself? What is his injury?  The trailer uses titles in the trailer when it show’s reviews from other companies, an example is “ Vivid and moving” this was said by a company called Entertainment.  This shows the audience that it has good reviews from big companies which will want them to go see the film.  The mood and expectations that we get from the trailer is that the mood is depressing as the main character is depressed himself.  The expectations we expect to happen in the film is there to be up’s and downs all the way through the film.  The most used camera shots are close up’s, medium shots and establishing shots.  These are the most used as they want to make the film seem fast paced and a lot of action.  I think they use establishing shots a lot to set the scene and show us what's going on.  The mise-en-scene in this trailer is shown through guns, tanks, and the location.  This gives us an indication into the genre as well.  I think the film trailer is very effective in attracting an audience as it attracts the correct audience well and it doesn’t give too much away.   So this leaves the audience wanting to find out answers to the trailer which will make the film successful.  Film trailers are a very effective promotional device as almost everyone can see a trailer either on the internet e.g youtube, with just a few clicks you can view the trailer you want.  Or on the tv you can see trailers.  They are effective because they tease the target audience into wanting to go see the full film which is what they are made to do.

Notes on the film trailer " Hell and back Again"

• The genre of this film is a war action film.
• The narrative of the film is about asking the question what does it mean to come back home? Can you get used to normal civilian life?
• The unique selling point in this film would most likely be the special effects used and also the location as that is where the war is happening in real life.
• The target audience for this film would be generally males ranging from the ages of 25 to 50 years of age.
• The music in the trailer starts of with the use of drums and trumpets sort of things you would see in an army parade, but when the one man gets injured it slows down and violins start to play to show sadness for the man.  Once he returns home the drums and trumpets start up again but this time louder indicating that he is back in fighting mode.
• The camera shots are: Medium close ups, establishing shots, long shots, close ups, tracking shots.
• The pace of the trailer is mixed first of all it starts of fast pace as any war film would and then it moves down to about medium pace when the solider goes home injured.
• There is a good bit of dialogue in this trailer some of the key words that are used are “We are experts in the application of violence” “Your conscious should be clear and your honour should be clean” Cheering from the families when soldiers arrive home.  “ He turns into a different person” “ What keeps us together we love it each other I guess if you can get through that you can through anything even to hell and back”
• There is a only a small bit of voiceover and it’s used to just to tell us a small part of a story about someone.
• Special effects that are used are the guns, planes, and also the tanks.
• The intertitles that were used in the trailer are small reviews from other companies and example is “Vivid and moving!” – The Entertainer

What is a film trailer and what is it's function?

WHAT IS A FILM TRAILER?

A film trailer is an advertisement or on the other hand  used to promote a film that will be shown at the cinema.  You can find film trailers very easily as they are on the Internet e.g YouTube and on the television.  Also cinemas show trailers before you watch a film of the genre of what movie you are about to watch.

WHAT IS A FILM TRAILERS FUNCTION?

The function of a film trailer is to inform the target audience about the film, to show which cast and directors are featuring in the film, to encourage the audience to see the movie and also it is a very important part of a films marketing campaign.

Hell and Back Again Trailer

Trailers I looked at

I looked at this film trailer because it is the genre of a war film and this it what I would like to make my film trailer be.  I also like near the end of the trailer three words appear one after another.  Courage, loyalty and finally honour.  I think these words are used to describe someone who is in the army so this is a clever idea.  Another thing I like is the music; the use of a piano makes the trailer seem more meaningful.

What I have to do for my coursework

As a group we must create a film trailer for a new film which will intend to attract an audience mainly through social networking sites and youtube.  During this we must create a magazine cover featuring the film and a poster for the film which is the secondary phase, adopting mainstream "above and below the line" marketing techniques, but we must do this individually as we don't get marked as a group for this activity.  I will be recording my progress via blogger throughout the year.